Power took the lead with four laps to go when Oriol Servia and Jack Harvey had to pit for fuel. Power then held off pole winner Ed Carpenter over the final few laps for the victory.

It gave team owner Roger Penske a 17th win in the Indy 500 and it was Power’s second straight victory this season. He won the road-course event at Indy earlier this month.

With hot weather creating a slick, 2 ½-mile oval, new cars with less downforce proved to be handful. And it cost a number of big-name drivers a shot at IndyCar’s most prestigious event. Defending race winner Takuma Sato, Danica Patrick, Sebastien Bourdais, three-time winner Helio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan lost control and wrecked.

Patrick was making the final start of her racing career, completing the “Danica Double” at the Indy 500. Bourdais crashed a year after missing the race because of a harrowing, high-speed accident during qualifying. Castroneves was going for a record-tying fourth victory in the 500.